Raise your hand if you are addicted to podcasts? If not, you will be after we share our top 5 podcast list with you! In our growing mission to use our platform to empower our readers with positivity and inspiration in light of Donald Trump becoming president (and the hateful, bigoted and divisive baggage that comes with him), we feel we should be sharing more resources, as well as important messages.

We decided to share a list of our favorite podcasts right now, which is by no means extensive, but since we really value an respect the voices of the women on these shows. Some of the topics covered across all five are also topics that we care about and regularly feature on GTHQ, including, careers, race, reproductive rights, and feminism.

‘2 Dope Queens’ is hosted by BFF’s Jessica Williams, a comedian who you will already be familiar with from her work on ‘The Daily Show’, and Phoebe Robinson, also a comedian and author of the memoir ‘You Can’t Touch My Hair’. After the two queens met through a mutual friend, they decided to combine forces and do the podcast together, which Phoebe originally started on her own.

They cover topics such as race, relationships, living in New York, sex, hair, and often have guest comedians and celebrities on the show with them. Jessica and Phoebe, who have described their partnership as akin to “a jank Oprah and Gayle”, told Glamour magazine they are unapologetically talking about issues pertinent to black women, from their POV.

“Sometimes people be irritated that we talk about race or issues that women face, but I think there’s something to having the female experience and having the black experience represented. And I think people should support that,” said Phoebe.

Take a listen to an episode below:

This second podcast comes from all the way across the pond in the UK. ‘Kicking the Kyriarchy’ is hosted by British duo Sidonie Bertrand-Shelton and Elena Guthrie. In this intersectional feminist podcast, the women make no secret of the fact they are “white and privileged”, but they are using their voices to speak up for those who are not, and educate their own community about the struggles faced by other people in society different to them.

They chose the name Kyriarchy instead of just patriarchy, because they believe it is far more accurate in its intersectional nature.

“EXAMPLE: If you compared the power of a black, disabled man and a white non disabled woman, patriarchy would say that the man has more power simply because he is a man. This is not the case. Kyriarchy would argue that the white woman holds more power in society as she is white and non disabled. This is more accurate,” says the description on the website.

With topics covered such as consent, periods, sex work, and “why is my curriculum white?”, both Sidonie and Elena are using their platform to educate listeners as well as themselves by inviting guest experts to explain certain issues and share their personal experiences.

Our third podcast is not only on our top 5 list, but given we are about to face an onslaught of anti-choice legislation from Republicans around the country, it is also super important right now. From reproductive rights news media platform Rewire.com, comes a podcast about all things repro rights, birth control and abortion. ‘Choice/Less’ offers real life insights into the topic of abortion and how anti-choice laws pushed by conservatives and religious groups are actually hurting, not helping women.

They have interviewed an array of women who have sought out abortions for a number of different reasons in the hope that it will start to chip away at harmful myths and stereotypes about women. The first episode of season 2 featured Amelia Bonow, the co-founder of the ‘Shout Your Abortion’ movement which started in the fall of 2015 after a series of heavily edited videos falsely portrayed Planned Parenthood employees to be discussing the sale and profit of baby parts from abortion procedures. The videos were debunked, and multiple state and federal investigations into the health organization found no wrong doing, except on the part of the extremist anti-choice organization which made the videos.

Amelia shares her own abortion story and how the growing movement of women sharing their own is going to turn back the shame and judgement that has been surrounding women who choose abortion for so long thanks to the pro life movement. Hear what she had to say below:

What we often find most egregious about the pro life movement is the lack of equal empathy and emphasis on the lives of children who are already alive, but who are in desperate need of a family to give them love due to circumstances of poverty or abandonment.

‘This Is Home’ podcast, a fairly new series, focuses on the children in the foster care system and the ever-changing definition of what it means to be “family” in today’s American culture. Hosted and produced by Emily Skehan, Erica Gerard and Christina Lindstrom.

So far in the series we have heard Christina Lindstrom’s family story. While she and her siblings were growing up, her mother was a CASA for a young boy in their neighborhood. That young boy ended up being a ward of the state and found his way into the foster care system due to the inability of his biological mother to look after him. Christina and her mother talk about the fraught and complex foster care system in the US. It is not just as simple as finding a child and adopting them, there are multiple barriers and complications, which vary from state to state. With close to half a million children in the foster system, and up to 60% of child trafficking victims coming from the foster system, we are shocked and saddened this doesn’t fall under the banner of “pro life” like it should.

One of our favorite episodes so far features an interview with Mia Birdsong, who is the director of Family Story. Her mission is to help pave the way for effective policy change, which she and her org believes must begin with the acknowledgement of how American family structures have changed over the decades. She talks about single mom shaming, representation of black families, and how certain religious movements have had a regressive effect on the way we think about poverty, education and what it takes to successfully raise a child.

Our final top five fave podcast series is Sophia Amoruso’s ‘GirlBoss’, the name of her now eponymous brand which began with the launch of her book of the same title, which detailed her story starting the uber successful Nasty Gal apparel brand and store.

What Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg are doing and have been doing for the older generation of career women with families, Sophia is empowering a generation of (mostly) millennial women in today’s economy by offering insights from from badass female entrepreneurs and change-makers.

If you are starting an entrepreneurial venture, or are simply looking for advice and inspiration from other women as to how they navigated their careers, this is the podcast for you. Women are launching businesses at a much faster rate than men across the US today, and most notably minority women are taking the lead. Long gone are the days and the economic structures where we would go to college, find a job, and stay there for years and years. We are living in a technology-driven age where working for yourself is becoming to go-to option for many young women.

Sophia’s own insights from her business, managing a successful clothing brand as well as personal brand, are mixed in with the messages shared from her expert guests. We hope this show, as well as the others listed in this article, will inspire you on your journey throughout 2017.